Two years after its premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, “Magazine Dreams” is finally hitting the silver screen. The delay was caused by troubling accusations against actor Jonathan Majors. Though it seems like Majors and his team have decided the time is right to return to the spotlight, some are questioning if he’s done enough.

“We’re talking about someone who was on a meteoric rise and then was accused and found guilty of assault, and his career basically ground to a halt,” Michael Jeffries, dean of academic affairs and professor at Wellesley College, said on GBH’s Under the Radar. “Though he has — in some spaces — admitted to the need to improve himself and other such things, what I don’t know that we’ve seen yet is a real commitment to righting some of the wrongs, not just personally, but I’m talking about investment in causes that would suggest that he really deeply understands the severity of the problem that he himself has fostered here.”

Lawsuits also plagued Lizzo’s career in the past few years. Though some have been dismissed, the accusations of assault, weight-shaming and a hostile work environment go against the ethos portrayed by the singer throughout her career.

“Her whole brand is based on a kind of ethos that seems to have been cast aside, or at the very least challenged, by these accusations,” Jeffries said, but he added that Lizzo has the benefit of a strong fanbase hungering for her work.

Journalist Angelika Beener said mega-star Will Smith has succeeded with a thoughtful comeback. Two years after the infamous slap incident at the Academy Awards, he’s returning to his musical roots with a new album and tour.

“I think it’s appropriate for Will Smith to get back out there and do what he’s never done before: He’s never headlined as a rapper, as Will Smith the MC,” Beener said. “And I think that when we take time to really reflect and do the work, I think that maybe the lesson for him in that incident has now given him this new zest for life to where he’s now venturing and doing things that he’s never done before. And I think people are ready.”

Nostalgic returns are also hitting the big and small screens. The sequel to Adam Sandler’s foul-mouthed hockey-player-turned-golfer comedy “Happy Gilmore 2” and Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis’ early-aughts teen comedy “Freakier Friday” are both set for summer releases.

“Because we’re seeing so many sequels, we have to ask the question: Why is it that this trend continues?” Jeffries said. “It’s part of the risk-aversion and the challenges that these studios are facing to turn a profit in an environment where there’s huge competition. So if you’re going to invest in a film, you really have to pitch something that the executives are confident are going to earn a profit. And what better way to do that with something that’s already proven?”

And with the recent release of Questlove’s “Sly Lives!” and the death of singer, songwriter, actress and producer Angie Stone, the stories of Black artistic geniuses are having a well-deserved moment.

“A lot of people didn’t know that [Angie Stone] was a hip-hop pioneer,” Beener said. “She’s foundational not just to R&B and neo soul specifically, but she’s most certainly a pioneer in the hip hop genre, and I think she was also a mentor to so many. She was obviously a tremendous writer. And then she’s also someone who just defied industry limitations at every turn. I’m just so sorry that she’s gone. It’s a huge loss.”

Plus, Bad Bunny is Calvin Klein’s newest underwear model. Is this just a publicity move by the Puerto Rican rapper or is this a more conscious move from a highly political, outspoken star?

It’s all on this week’s pop culture roundtable!

Guests

  • Michael Jeffries, dean of academic affairs, the Class of 1949 Professor in Ethics and professor of American Studies at Wellesley College
  • Angelika Beener, award-winning journalist, DJ, producer and host of the podcast, “Milestones: Celebrating the Culture” from WBGO

Stories featured in this week’s roundtable